Power of Policy to Reduce Toll of Tobacco

1. Jefferson County
Tobacco Control Accomplishments
The Power of Policy to
Reduce the Toll of
Tobacco
June 16, 2009
Tobacco Prevention Initiative
Report to Board of Health

2. Agenda
 Introductions
 Program Goals
 Policy as a Powerful Tool
 Highlights of Accomplishments
 09-10 Grant Cycle
 Working Together

3. Tobacco Prevention Initiative
 Donna Viverette – Program Coordinator
 Flo Cisan – Worksite/organizational policy, tobacco-free campuses
 Ed Ellis – Smoke-free law compliance, adult cessation, spit tobacco
 Alma Sandoval – Latinos, healthcare and childcare providers
 Susan Sobkoviak – Secondhand smoke education, policies/laws
 Jeremy Vann – youth prevention, cessation and policy advocacy
 Laurie Robinson – media and program assistant
 Rose Fales – program assistant

4. Our Goals
 Reduce the toll of tobacco that takes 4,300
Colorado lives each year
– Reducing youth/young adult initiation
– Increasing cessation among youth and adults
– Reducing secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure
– Reducing/eliminating tobacco-related disparities
 Priority strategies:
– Coalition building and community mobilization
– Media
– Policy

5. Effective Tobacco Control Policies
 Erode the power of tobacco industry
 De-normalize tobacco use
– Shift social norms to tobacco-free living
 Protect people from Secondhand Smoke
(SHS) exposure
 Increase system wide engagement so that all
people, including the poor and other health
disparity affected populations, are served

6. Lessons Learned
 POLICY…
– Provides a framework for establishing priorities,
goals, and programs for tobacco control
– Is a guide to practical decision-making for
worksites, schools, organizations and service
providers
– Articulates common vision for tobacco control
– Can set national/global standards for tobacco
control that can be enforced and measured
– Helps give children a real chance to grow up
tobacco free

7. Benefits of Policy
 Empowers people in civic engagement
– TF Jeffco
– CAUSE
– BE Teams
– CASH
– Latino Advisory Committee
 Network of influential partners who become
passionate advocates
– Jefferson Center for Mental Health
– Jefferson County Public Schools
– Exempla

9. Jefferson County
‘08 –’09 Policy Accomplishments
Individual and Family
School campuses
Health/human services systems
Organizations and Worksites
Municipal government

10. Individual and Family
 Smoke-free homes
– Education, Media Campaigns, SF Pledges
 Supports for tobacco-free living
– Agreements with other Providers
 Education, Counseling and Referral

12. School Campuses
 Post-secondary campuses
 School Policy
– Sponsorship messaging, training educators,
linking wellness and tobacco prevention activities,
parent involvement, increased access to tobacco
cessation and prevention resources
– Policy Updates
 Highlight: JeffCo Schools’ Partnership

13. Health/Human Services
 System-wide Changes – integrating tobacco
control strategies
– Health Care Providers
 Substance Abuse/Mental Health
– WIC
– Head Start
– Children and Family Services

14. Organizations and Worksites
 Smoke-free multi-unit housing
 Increasing resources/incentives to be
tobacco-free in the workplace
 Tobacco-free Campuses (worksites)
– Impacts clients/consumers and employees
 ELMC
 Jefferson Center for Mental Health

15. Municipal Government
 Support/strengthen CCIAA at the local level
– Arvada, Golden
 Local ordinances to reduce youth access,
limit the tobacco industry’s influence
– Arvada, Wheat Ridge

16. Impact of This Work
 Fewer people exposed to secondhand smoke
– Protecting newborns
– Nearly 1200 family housing units
– The estimated annual 30,000 patients, visitors and employees of
ELMC
– Arvada’s 106,000 residents
 Reduction in tobacco use
– Quitline calls steadily increase from Jeffco
– Youth cessation programming in all high schools
– More than 100 training and technical assistance sessions with
healthcare providers

17. Our Work is Making a
Difference

18. ‘09 –’10 Grant
 Received funding through the State Tobacco
Education and Prevention Partnership
 Deepen and expand outreach, education and
policy work – focus: health disparity affected
populations
 Continue to work with local jurisdictions to
protect individuals from SHS

19. From Helping People Quit,
to Supporting Important
Policy Changes and Legislation . . .
It’s the People and Partnerships That HaveIt’s the People and Partnerships That Have
Made All the DifferenceMade All the Difference

20. Working Together to Strengthen Local
Smoke-Free Laws
 Eiber Elementary School Thanks the BoH
 Influence of the BoH
 How can we work together?

21. Thank You!